Chris Lee

Oakland Blight Laws Put RV Inhabitants at Risk of Eviction

Behind a corrugated metal fence painted powder purple near 10th and Wood Street in West Oakland, the residents of a small unsanctioned solar-powered RV eco-park housed themselves cheaply for years. But soon, the city could shut them down. This is one of a handful of RV communities that the City of Oakland has recently targeted as “blight,” a term that can be broadly interpreted as the aesthetic of poverty or urban decay. According to the city, these laws are meant to prevent a “fire hazard or a condition considered dangerous to public health, safety, and general welfare.” But the other important purpose of these laws is to protect property values.

California Could Be the Next State After Oregon to Decriminalize Psychedelics

While most of the United States lags behind countries in Europe and Latin America in decriminalizing drug possession, one California State Senator is honing in on psychedelics as the next class of drugs after marijuana to support legalization. In this segment, California State Senator Scott Wiener explains how legalization of psychedelics fits into a larger policy objective of reducing criminal sentences, and a psychotherapist weighs in on how psychedelic assisted therapy would be regulated under decriminalization.

This aired on KPFA's Pacifica Evening News on November 12th, 2020.

Photo: San Pedro cactus planted beside a driveway in Lualailua, Maui, Hawaii. Forest and Kim Starr, 2007.

AHS Healthcare Workers Stage 5 Day Strike

Insufficient staffing as well as health and safety issues for patients and workers in their hospitals have driven union workers in Alameda County’s public health system to protest multiple times over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. In October 2020, healthcare workers staged a 5 day unfair labor practices strike against the Alameda Health System. One core demand of the strikers was to wrest power away from their bosses, the Board of Trustees and bring the Alameda Health System back under public control. Alameda County Supervisors have since fired the Board of Trustees, the first step in a series of measures, which could begin to answer some of the strikers demands.

This story explores the courage and determination of healthcare workers faced with cutbacks at their hospital in Oakland, which was already straining under years of austerity and fiscal mismanagement.

This aired on KPFA's Pacifica Evening News on October 8th, 2020.

Photo: SEIU 1021 members demonstrate outside Highland Hospital in Oakland on October 7, 2020.

“Sean died for a bigger cause”: Remembering Sean Monterrosa

As part of a series of interviews that took place over the summer of 2020, I spoke with Ashley and Michelle Monterrosa, the sisters of Sean Monterrosa, a San Francisco resident who was killed by Vallejo Police Officer Jared Tonn on June 2nd, 2020.

I met Ashley, 20 and Michelle, 24 on a sunny September morning on Bernal Hill in San Francisco. Ashley told me this was one of the places where she and her brother Sean would exercise together. We climbed the dusty hillside. Michelle pointed in the direction of her family’s home, a one-bedroom apartment tucked into a residential block; bordered by a freeway about a quarter mile south.

The following 5 minute interview was edited by Lucy Kang. It aired on KPFA’s UpFront on September 17th, 2020.

Federal Agents Abduct Protestors Off the Streets of Portland

Protestors of racialized police violence in Portland, Oregon say federal agents deployed by the Trump Administration jumped out of unmarked vehicles and surreptitiously arrested them by grabbing them off the streets. The top Department of Homeland Security official visited Portland in July and issued a statement calling the demonstrators "lawless anarchists." Observers say tensions between law enforcement and demonstrators have risen sharply after federal forces arrived in Portland. Many lawmakers called for an end to the uninvited occupation of the city by federal forces.

This aired on KPFA’s Pacifica Evening News on July 17th, 2020.

Longshore Workers Shut Down All West Coast Ports on Juneteenth

All ports along the West Coast from Seattle, Washington to Long Beach, California were effectively shut down on Juneteenth. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 organized a historic work stoppage in commemoration of the holiday and in solidarity with people demonstrating against police killings across the country. Thousands of protestors rallied with union members at the Port of Oakland, marched to Oakland Police HQ and rallied again at Oakland City Hall.

This aired on KPFA’s Pacifica Evening News on June 19th, 2020.

Photo: IATSE Local 16 and the Democratic Socialists of America march together at the port of Oakland on June 19th, 2020.

Stunned and Stuck: Hundreds of J-1 Visa Recipients Are Stranded in the US

Filipino temporary workers say they are stranded in the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic. These workers came to the US under a J-1 Visa, which is intended to provide cultural exchange or job training opportunities for internationals, but many report they were exploited by their sponsor companies before being abruptly laid off.

In April 2020, hundreds of J-1 workers penned an open letter to the State Department and the Philippine government requesting financial assistance. As of December, the State Department has not responded to the group.

This aired on KPFA's Pacifica Evening News on May 14th, 2020.

Photo: Pool party at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas, 2016. (Omni is one of several hotel chains that offer internships to J-1 workers)